Heater



Oct. 20, 1936. R. .1. PARSONS HEATER Original Filed Dec. 19, 1933 5. W ATTORNE IWENTOR Patented Oct. 20, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEATER Robert J. Parsons, Schenectady, N. Y., assignor to Consolidated Car-Heating Company, Inc., Albany, N. Y., a corporation of New York 2 Claims.

This invention relates to electric heating units, especially to plate-like heating units of general utility, and more particularly to an electric heating unit adapted for use in soil sterilizers of the 5 type disclosed in my Letters Patent, No. 1,996,708 from which my present application has been divided.

An object of the present invention is to provide, in a compact and easily manipulated form,

1 a plate-like electric heater in which elongated resistor elements are supported in insulated relation to a sturdy protective cover or shell which serves also as a heat radiator of maximum area, thus securing optimum heating eiilciency of each unit.

Another object of the invention is to provide an electric heating unit in the form of what is in effect a shallow pan, and which is of self-contained and self-sustaining structure, the basic organization of the unit, embodying the resistor o and its supporting frame and insulators, being of such simple, inexpensive and easily obtainable parts that a considerable latitude in area can be provided for without departing from the present disclosure, and any desirable number of such units can be assembled in very easily erected and coordinated combinations with existing or new structures the units being portable and having the characteristic advantage of occupying a minimum aggregate space in transportation.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a standard plate-like electric heating unit of the kind above described, in which the resistor is formed as a plurality of elements, preferably of different heating capacity, each constituted by extended stretches of wire disposed in a multiplicity of loops lying substantially in a single plane, to form a lattice-like element, being furnished with separate leads and capable of being operated by separate switches so that by switching in one, or the other, or both, of the elements, three different degrees of heating effect can be obtained.

Other objects and advantages will appear as 45 the description of the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, and the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing and the several views thereon, wherein like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views, and in which:

(Cl. 21S-19) Figure 1 is a view in vertical section of an electric heater unit in the construction of which the invention has been embodied; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the plane indicated by the line II-II of Fig. 1, viewed in the direction of the arrows at the ends of the line.

The heating units may be of appropriate shape, size and material, but applicant prefers a construction such as is shown in the gures of the drawing, the preferred form being what is in effect that of a shallow pan, as illustrated at II. This pan may be made of any suitable and appropriate material, but sheet iron is preferred. At suitable intervals upon the broad inside face of the pan I I, suitable strips, preferably insulating, as I 2 and I3, are positioned and rigidly held by any suitable and appropriate fastening means, such as rivets I4. Each of these strips bears a plurality of knobs as I5, each of which is attached to one of the strips by suitable and appropriate means such as the bolts I6. The knobs are made of appropriate material, preferably a vitried clay such as porcelain.

AThe knobs I5 support a suitable electrical resistor made of electrical resistance wires I1 and I8, appropriate for heating purposes, such as nichrome, preferably formed into a multiplicity of loops disposed in substantially a single plane continuous throughout the element, and presenting the appearance of a lattice.

The resistance wire is shown in two elements or portions, one of which, I'I, is termed the upper portion or lattice, for the sake of convenience, and the other, I8, the lower portion or lattice, these expressions not being used in a limitative sense. The upper portion is served by leads I9 and 20, and the lower portion is served by the leads 2l and 22.

Each of these leads I9, 20, 2| and 22 is protected by a surrounding porcelain tube, as 23, where it passes through the side of the metal pan I I.

In order to properly and completely enclose the heating units II and I8, they are covered by what is in effect another pan, 24, best shown in Fig. 2. The sides of this inverted pan 24 fit nicely over the side walls of the pan I I so as to exclude the entrance of foreign material. The pan 24 is detachably connected to the pan II in any suitable and appropriate manner, as by screws 25 through the pan 24 entering studs 26 attached to the pan II,

From the foregoing disclosure, it will be evident that I have provided a sturdy and eicient electric heating unit of plate-like form in which the essential structural elements, including both the heating element and its support are made of materials easily obtainable in the open market, and readily formed to the desired shapes.

Owing to the flat shape of the unit the resistor net enclosed therein is supported in close proximity to the two extended heating members afforded by the pans and optimum radiating efciency is secured thereby.

It is also clear that the plate-like unit is easily portable, and a very large number of them can be stored or transported in a minimum space, thus providing for great economy in this very essential respect.

The at arrangement renders the units also capable of being connected up in a great variety of heating assemblies, along Walls, or in massed arrangement Where space permits, the smooth areas of the pans faces lending themselves to decoration, as will be readily understood.

Although applicant has illustrated and-described one particular physical embodiment of his invention, and explained the construction, principle and mode of operation thereof, nevertheless it is desired to have it understood that the form shown is merely illustrative, and does not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of means underlying the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. An electric heating unit of the class described, formed of two metallic, shallow pan-like bodies of which one is inverted and fitted into the other so that thin side walls overlap and form rigid laminated circumferential heat-inductive parts; electrical heating resistors comprising a plurality of resistor elements of different heating capacity, and including separate leads to the elements, whereby several different degrees of heating effect may be provided selectively; said unit being characterized by having said elements each formed of stretches of resistor wire disposed in multiple loops, continuous throughout the elements and lying in a plane parallel with, and between, the metallic body portions of said pans, the elements being spaced sensibly from each pan but near enough to heat both pans uniformly substantially throughout their entire respective areas; and means for insulatingly supporting said resistor elements on one of the bodies.

2. An electric heating unit comprising a platelike assembly including a pair of flat sheet-metal pans secured together removably in telescopic relation and inverted position relatively to each other, and a heating resistor in the form of wire stretches disposed in a multiplicity of loops lying in a single plane, enclosed between said pans, and supported by spaced strips of insulating material mounted on one of said pans, said lattice being carried by insulating knobs secured to said strips. 30

ROBERT J. PARSONS. 

